As Daniel Craig retires, the question of his succession arises. Justfocus has made its choice with Amber Blake, the best candidate? Discover in this column his c.v. in comics.
A difficult return to normal
In the previous volumes, the reader discovered Amber Blake. Recruited following a painful event at university, she is part of the elite of ARGON, a spy agency. She proved her talent but, if the missions were successful, the losses were also numerous. Among the agents, Amber now has a painful reputation: death awaits everyone who approaches her. This is what happened in the second volume and Amber Blake tries to overcome the trauma of the death of her boyfriend. She is in trouble and one of the two leaders supports where it hurts: her past failures. To prevent this from happening again, she decides to train night and day and prepare her revenge. She thinks she can do it when she learns that Soa, her former torturer, is operating in Southeast Asia. Being too involved, the leaders of ARGON decided to dismiss her. But can we really stop Amber Blake?
Scam, gunfight and social party: a feminine cocktail
Amber Blake is an enjoyable action and espionage title written by Jade Lagardère. Former model and successful Instagrammer, she is the wife of businessman Arnaud Lagardère. Passionate about comics, she realizes her dream with this series. We can also physically see a link between the screenwriter and Amber. She is supported by the very talented Butch Guice with drawings who has already proven his talent in comics. His style is very close to William Vance, draftsman of XIII. Adopting a photorealism, he plunges us into the heart of a story faithful to the codes of espionage. The volume begins with sword training in a dojo of the ancient mansion serving as a training center for women and men. Far from forming a united group, ARGON is undermined by jealousies between spies due to frequent losses. Amber Blake suffers several remarks on her last mission. The leaders decide to strengthen ties through an exercise by bringing together those who hate each other in a duo. Amber gets away with it but she is mostly looking for revenge. To find Soa, she disobeys orders to train another agent. She travels halfway around the world to attend a private party atop Singapore's iconic building. As is often the case in espionage, the plan fails. The evening begins with a cocktail in an evening dress and ends with gunshots. Amber Blake is a female James Bond and this revisit of espionage may be reminiscent of the magnificent Velvet of Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting but the reading of Amber Blake is lighter because the action takes precedence before the psychology of the characters. Operation Dragonfly, Amber Blake's third volume, continues in an independent story this effective spy series at Glénat. The story finds the codes of espionage by applying them to a female character. The magnificent drawing of Butch Guice sublimates the whole. If you want to discover other stories about the hidden side of the world, we recommend the chronicles on spy stories and the sequel to the Chimerical Brigade.
